


sanguine

by transkylo (captainandor)



Category: Dracula (TV 2020), Dracula - Bram Stoker
Genre: Blood, Blood Drinking, Facial Shaving, M/M, Minor Injuries, Sort Of, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 09:20:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27348799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainandor/pseuds/transkylo
Summary: “Dangerous business, you know. Spilling blood around these parts.”
Relationships: Dracula/Jonathan Harker
Comments: 13
Kudos: 92





	sanguine

**Author's Note:**

> will I ever stop being horny for vampires? looks like the answer is no, sorry folks

He’s been there almost two weeks before Johnathan realises he hasn’t properly shaved since before he arrived at the castle. His cheeks feel rough with stubble and, coupled with his heavy eyes and the slight, sickly pallor of his skin – he’s starting to look extremely unkempt. Though he supposes it matters little out here – locked away in a castle deep in the mountains with only the Count for company – but he feels so unlike himself, and sitting across from Dracula at dinner every night is beginning to make him feel rather inadequate.

Each night Johnathan wakes from his fitful sleep in a cold sweat, weak and gasping, while the count appears younger with every passing day. He thinks he understands, but he doesn’t want to. His dreams are hazy, almost nightmares but not quite. He’s woken up achingly aroused more than once, and had to grit his teeth and begrudgingly relieve himself each time, ashamed of the mess left on the bedsheets.

The first time it happened, it was as if Dracula _knew_. Johnathan had sat across from him at the dining table stiffly, and the Count’s gaze had turned on him, the intensity of it causing Johnathan’s cheeks to flush. Surely he couldn’t tell what Johnathan had done – but his smile said otherwise.

When he arrived less than a fortnight ago Count Dracula was but an old man, wrinkled and white haired, his Romanian accent thick on his tongue. Now he’s _young_ , dark haired, dark eyed, Johnathan would dare to call him handsome, if only in the privacy of his own thoughts. 

He has to leave this place, he thinks, before it renders him entirely mad.

The lack of mirrors in the castle is unsettling, but Johnathan figures it’s just one of the strange quirks of Romanian custom. The people here are extremely superstitious, and so Johnathan is glad for the small travel mirror he packed with him in his case. It shows his tiredness more starkly than his reflection in the glass window at night, and he takes a moment to stare miserably at himself, at the bloodshot whites of his eyes, before setting the mirror atop the wash stand and retrieving the straight razor from his bag. 

The familiar routine of lathering the cool soap against his skin settles him, and Johnathan relaxes into the feeling, swiping the sharp edge of the blade cleanly across his cheek, revealing inch by inch of skin. 

“Careful.” A smooth voice says from behind him.

Johnathan jumps, and the edge of the blade nicks the skin on the edge of his jaw with a sharp sting. He turns, alarmed to find Count Dracula standing in his doorway, dressed down from his formal evening wear in only his shirtsleeves and waistcoat. Johnathan pointedly avoids lingering on the undone buttons at his collar, at the curl of dark hair he sees there. There’s a glass of something thick and red in his hand, and his eyes sparkle at Johnathan as he takes a slow sip. 

A glance in the mirror confirms that he does not appear in the reflection. Johnathan frowns.

“Count Dracula.” He says, keeping his voice measured, “What are you doing here?” He turns back to the room, and startles. In the blink of an eye, Dracula is suddenly right behind him, leaning around to place his half empty glass beside the mirror on the wash stand and pluck the razor from Johnathan’s hand. 

“You’ve hurt yourself.” Dracula tuts. He brushes his thumb against the blood beading on Johnathan’s skin, “Dangerous business, you know. Spilling blood around these parts.”

Johnathan looks straight ahead at the mirror, at the empty space beside him, the reflection of the open doorway leading into the dark corridor beyond. He swallows, his throat dry. “Is it?” he asks. 

He hears, rather than sees, Dracula’s answering smile. “Oh yes,” he practically purrs, “Allow me.” 

“You really don’t need to –” Johnathan starts to turn, but Dracula stops him with a hand on his jaw, tilting Johnathan’s head to the side with his thumb for better access as he scrapes the blade smoothly down Johnathan’s throat. The sound of it sliding against his skin seems louder somehow, almost as loud as the blood pounding in his ears.

“I insist.”

Dracula uses gentle touches of his hand to get Johnathan to angle his chin. He falls silent as he focuses on the task at hand, and in the silence Johnathan is all too aware of their closeness – the different points of contact. The touch of cool fingers on his skin, his back pressed against Dracula’s chest. The proximity is making him dizzy; the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. It’s not entirely from fear. 

When Dracula finishes with a final swipe of the razor, Johnathan lets out a breath. It looks more like him standing in the mirror, but Johnathan feels detached, like he’s floating free from his own body.

“Thank you,” he says, a little stiffly. 

In the corner of his eye, he sees Dracula flash him a smile, the barest hint of his teeth. “My pleasure.” 

When he turns, he catches Dracula slipping the closed blade into his trouser pocket. 

At his look, Dracula only says, “I think I’d better keep it safe, don’t you? Avoid any more little accidents.” 

The cut on Johnathan’s throat stings as if to remind him of its presence, and he lifts a hand to touch it gently, his fingertips coming away stained red. 

“See what I mean?” Dracula tuts, stepping close again, “Let me take a look at it.” 

Before he has the time to reply, Dracula is in his space again, tilting his jaw up to the light. A glance at his reflection shows the blood welling up to the surface again, before it drips, landing heavily on the white collar of his shirt. When he looks back at Dracula his eyes have gone dark, pupils stretched wide. 

He leans in, swipes his tongue against the cut, and, _God_ , he groans, a deep and low rumble from his chest. Johnathan’s throat clicks around a dry swallow, his hands fluttering uncertainly before coming to rest on Dracula’s shoulders. He feels hard muscle beneath the fabric, and Johnathan digs his fingers in, gasping as Dracula’s teeth scrape, just barely, against his jaw. 

The uneasy feeling returns, coiling low in Johnathan’s belly, and he realises, belatedly, that he’s hard. The whimper that escapes his lips is pathetic even to his own ears, but he barely has the presence of mind to care, not when Dracula’s mouth is trailing down his neck, pressing rough kisses into his freshly smooth skin. 

A shift in his stance has Johnathan’s arousal press, briefly, against Dracula’s thigh, and Johnathan bites his lip against another whimper threatening to escape. 

Dracula stops abruptly, and Johnathan begins to panic, before he feels a smile curving against his throat. 

The Count lifts his head, eyes glinting in the candle light. 

Johnathan stares back at him, waiting, but Dracula steps away, the space between their bodies suddenly feeling cold and empty. He runs a hand back through his hair, smoothing it. 

“I should let you sleep." he says, "I bid you a good night,” 

“Wait.” Johnathan begins, but Dracula is already leaning past him to retrieve his glass as he makes his way to leave. 

Before the door swings shut, he pauses and glances back over his shoulder. He smiles wide, like a predator, and this time Johnathan sees his teeth clearly – the deadly, pointed edges of his canines. 

“Sweet dreams.”

**Author's Note:**

> I watched Bram Stoker's Dracula again the other day and I couldnt stop thinking about Dracula shaving Johnathan, but like, make it 10x more homoerotic. Also, we were totally robbed of that kind of content in Dracula 2020 so. Here we are. 
> 
> I hope you all had a fun Halloween!


End file.
